Crew Has Assets For Set Pieces

The first time Josh Williams took the field with his fellow Crew defenders this season, a quick realization came to his mind.

“We lined up and Chad (Marshall) and I were like, ‘This is a huge back line. They’re not going to see too many back lines like this,’ ” Williams said yesterday.

It is one reason why the Crew has been so successful on set pieces this season. As I wrote in today’s paper, four of the team’s seven goals this season were started by either corner or free kicks. Head coach Robert Warzycha said the team does not set any sort of in-game goals for how many corner kicks they want to have.

“We always set the goal that we want to score more goals than the other team,” he said with a laugh.

It just so happens that these situations have helped the Crew achieve those goals so far this season, and Federico Higuain is right in the middle of it all. The designated player has been dangerous since arriving in Columbus last summer, and Higuain said the height of the likes of Gláuber, Marshall and Williams is a big asset.

“It’s not only the height, it’s the timing of their runs that make it successful,” he said. “It’s very important that we have those kinds of players and we can use that as an extra weapon to try and score goals.”

Said head coach Robert Warzycha: “Everybody has to be on the same page. There has to be a good cross and a good run. You can’t have one without the other. I have to compliment him for crossing the ball and putting it in the right place and also for the guys making the good runs.”

Williams said there is a plan for when the different defenders make their runs.

“Chad and Gláuber and I normally talk to see where we’re going,” he said. “I normally try to go off of Chad, because Chad’s such a big target and everyone keys on him. I was doing that, and now it seems like they’re guarding me more, which will free up him. Normally I just try to find space. If it’s late in the game and we’re up, like against Chivas we didn’t send too many guys and that’s better for me because I try to find space then. Normally I watch the defender to see and as soon as he turns his back that’s when I make my move.”

Williams also pointed to another defensive-minded player not afraid to mix it up.

“You throw (Agustin) Viana in there, who scored a couple goals in the preseason: I call myself fearless, but that guy’s a whole other level of fearless,” Williams said. “He just goes crashing in. No one really talks about that, but we put our heads pretty much in anywhere. Fearless big men.”< /p>